At least ten top members of the Iran´s Guardians of the Islamic
Revolution (Pasdaran) group have died under suspicious circumstances
in recent months, the Defense Online website reported Thursday. Those
killed include generals and other top-ranked officials, and many of
them have died in “apparently violent circumstances,” the report said.

The Guardians act as a combination border patrol, modesty police, and
internal security apparatus in Iran. Their mission is to ensure that
the Islamic Revolution does not fall by the wayside, and that
Iranians continue to submit to the wills of the mullahs running the
country. The Guardians are considered one of the most powerful
organizations in Iran today, controls its own paramilitary group,
employs 90,000 people, and is said to have tens of billions of
holdings in businesses.

It is tension over those holdings that have gotten the officers
killed, the report says.

With sanctions making it harder and more expensive to import anything
and even acquire items locally, the black market has flourished, and
the speculation is that other groups that feel the Guardians are
trying to “squeeze them out” of some areas of business. Sunni-Shiite
tension is also thought to be playing a factor, as at least two of
the dead served in areas with large Sunni populations.

Iran has publicized only two of the deaths, with information on the
other eight coming from democracy and rights groups operating outside
of Iran.